Monday, January 26, 2015

Aging Plastic Soldiers

Just how old is a Snake Eyes anyway?

According to the original mythos, many of the original GI Joe figures from the 80's series were Viet Nam war veterans. The average age of a Vietnam vet is 64.I don't mean to disrespect men in their 60's but I'm sure Snake Eyes and his fellow GI Joe team members are not quite as active as they used to be. Hell, I'm 52 and I ain't even close to being as physically fit as I once was. Sure, they're toys. I get it. It's still interesting to consider the characters and their "ages". Is the Snake Eyes from "Retaliation" the same Snake Eyes from "The Mass Device"? Of course not. No way.The key to bringing GI Joe into the 21st century is to basically lift the mythos of the 80's and drop it into the modern era. But what does that do to the original story? Could there be different Dukes? Could Duke be more of a code name than a specific person? Maybe, but I would imagine that there would only be one Snake Eyes. The ultimate success of GI Joe is to know when to let go of the past. This applies to all of the various incarnations of GI Joe. Including the original 12" GI Joe. I'll say it again. 2014 was the 50th anniversary of the Brand, not just one aspect of its history. Of course, Hasbro screwed it up. GI Joe deserved more.My intention here on this ridiculous blog is to do my own personal reboot of the GI Joe versus Cobra conflict into the 21st century to take advantage of the kick-ass modern era figures. So does that mean my favorite vehicle from the 80's, the Defiant Complex, is wiped from history? Uhh... maybe? We'll see.